This week on Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, the dancers competed in a dance battle challenge and then performed mythology themed dances.
“There’s 10 dancers still standing… only because one of you got lucky,” Abby said as they gathered for the challenge. Of course, she was referring to Chloe, who was initially eliminated at the end of last week, but then saved by judge Richy Jackson’s callback card.
Abby announced that the theme this week would be mythology: the gods and the mortals, and the skill they would be practicing was power. For their challenge, two special guests would be joining them – Maddie and Mackenzie from Dance Moms! Maddie and Mackenzie skipped into the room, and the dancers were ecstatic to see them. They would be demonstrating to the competitors this week’s dance battle challenge. The girls had a dance off, showing off their best moves and getting in each other’s faces until Abby said Maddie beat her little sister Mackenzie (surprise, surprise, for all you Dance Moms fans).
Then, it was the competitors’ turn. Abby would call two dancers at a time, and the winner would stay in to battle the next person, while the loser would be eliminated. Travis and Tyler were up first. Travis won against his brother, and then went on to also beat Gianna and Haley before Trinity beat him. Trinity beat Chloe, but then McKaylee won against Trinity. McKaylee then beat JoJo, but Ally beat McKaylee, making Ally the challenge winner.
For her prize, Ally got to play the “dance god” casting her fellow competitors in their dances. Ally and her mom used the strategy of disrupting everyone’s normal dance style and partners. After Ally put everyone in a number, it was time for practice and choreography.
Trinity and Travis’s duet involved a tricky jump, where Travis had to catch Trinity as she leapt into his arms. But when they tried it at practice, Travis collapsed when she jumped into him, causing both dancers to fall over.
Kalani and Haley’s duet practice wasn’t going much better. Ally purposefully put them together because she thought Haley would struggle dancing with Kalani, and so far, it looked like she was right.
In Ally’s dance, she wasn’t exuding the same confidence she was in the challenge, which wasn’t a good sign, because Abby said for the performances, “I want to see who’s confident, strong, and can think quickly on their feet.”
After a long day of practice, it was finally the performance night. Kalani and Haley’s jazz number, entitled “Birth of a Goddess” was up first. The girls used props like flags and sticks with streams of fabric as they danced on stage. Then, in the middle of the dance, Haley’s skirt got caught in her hair, so her face was completely covered in fabric! She kept dancing, though, and eventually the skirt unstuck itself. The judges said that Haley stepped it up and was definitely able to keep up with Kalani. Abby even said that Haley had beautiful feet, while Kalani’s were pigeon-toed after her back walkover.
The next dance was called “Sirens,” featuring Tyler, McKaylee, and Ally. In this contemporary number, the girls were sirens who seduced Tyler. McKaylee outshone the other dancers, and Abby told her “You looked like a working, employable dancer.” Richy thought Tyler was fantastic, and Abby said Ally “brought the strength and confidence, but she could have left the feet at home.”
Travis and Trinity’s duet, “Medusa’s Tragic Romance,” was the third dance of the evening. We held our breath until Travis and Trinity nailed the partner jump they had struggled with in practice. In the dance, Trinity played Medusa, and Travis was her lover, who, at the end of the number, looked her in the eye and turned to stone. The dance was phenomenal, and the judges loved it. Richy even gave it the first finger wave of the entire season!
The last dance was JoJo, Chloe, and Gianna’s funk style number, “Hades and the Lost Souls.” Jojo played Hades, while Chloe and Gianna were the lost souls. At the beginning of the number, Chloe and Gianna stood like statues, balancing on one foot, for several counts, which was really impressive. Chloe lost her balance later, though, when she fell on her butt. Abby thought JoJo “rocked it out,” while Richy thought JoJo’s “fire was a little dim.” Abby critiqued Chloe’s fall as well as how she curls her toes when she’s on her knees.
After the judges deliberated, they called the dancers back out. “It’s time to find out how mortal they really are,” said Abby. Kalani, Gianna, and Chloe landed in the bottom three. Gianna did part of her dance a few counts too early, which is a big no-no. Kalani fell short in the duet when she should have shined. Chloe’s feet were still not good enough, and, after being saved last week, this week she would really be going home.
Catch a Vegas themed show next week on Lifetime at 9/8c.
Image: Youtube Screenshot